allan



C. F. F. ALLAN.

PNEUMATIC TIRE PROTECTOR.

Patented 1390.9,1919.

2 SHEETS-SHEET Z ww mu UNITED? STATES T NT CHARLES FREDERICK Fox ALLAN, or'sYmvEY, AUSTRALIA.

PNEUMATIC-TIRE PROTEGTOR.'

To all whom z't may concern: 1

Be it known that I, CHARLES FREDERICK Fox LAN, a subject of the King of Great Britain Improvements in Pneumatic-Tire Protect ors, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a protecting armor for pneumatic tires, and more particularly to'the attaching means therefor, and has .for its object plify'the construction and operation of a devicerofthe character shown and described 239,352, filed June the 11th, 1918.

I will describe oneform of device em bodying my invention, and will'then point out the novel features thereof in claims.

Figure 1 is a view showingin side elevation an automobile Wheel havin applied thereto one form of device emboc ying my.

lnvention. c

Fig. 2 is an enlargedfragmentary View showing in side elevationa device shown. in Fig. 1.

of Fig. 2.

i Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line IVIV' of Fig. '3 and looking in the direction of the arrows.

line:V.V of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawings in detail, 7 designates generally an automobile wheel of the comprises the 'felly'F to which'a pneumatic tire T is attached by means of a demountable rim R. Surrounding spaced therefrom is an auxiliary rim A in which is secured an auxiliary tire T preferably formed of solid rubber. Interposed between the pneumatic tire land the auxiliary rim A are dome-shaped projections or tread members P, the summits of which are adapted to bear upon the tread surface of the pneumatic tire, asshown in Fig. 3. These members P are disposed at regular spaced intervals preferably. of 30 degrees throughout the circumference of the rim, and each member is formed with a plurality i5 they are formed at the lowest possible temperature; In the present instance I; have Specification of Letters Patent.

and Ireland, residing at Sydney, tobe-understood 5 Australia, have invented new and. useful to improve and sim lation to the attaching frame indicated generally at K in my co-pending'application, Serial No portion of the Fig. 3 isa view taken onthe lineIII III F1g.'5 is a sectional'view taken on the i ordinary construction. and jWlllCll, as I illustrated to advantage inFi'g. 3,

the pneumatic tire T and shown the members P. formed on a ring whichiisseated" within the auxiliary rim A as shown in Figs. 3 and'el; owever, it is that the'ymay tegral with the rim A. without departing from the spirit of the invention. Upon the inner surface of each member P crossed ribs 11 are formed the point at tread surface auxiliary rim to reinforce the .member at which-it contacts with the pneumatic tire by means of an The attaching frame K comprises a pair of annuli L and. L disposed upon opposite sides of the pneumatic tire-T and substantially Z-shaped in cross section to provide sufficient space to allow for pansion of the tire. i Therim A is formed at its opposite edges coact with each otherto provide annular channels for the reception of the annuli L and L. With the .frame in p.osition,:the outeredges of each annulus L and L are secured within thee annels of the auxiliary rim A by means of transversely extending securingimembers 12 to prevent circumferential movement of the rim A upon the annuli. As lanadditional means for the rim A and the annuliL and L, I embed wires-24 at the be made in the lateral eX-f with flanges a which reinforcing points shown in Fig. 3, which extend entirely around- Patented Dec. 9, 1919. Q Application filed October 12, 1918. Serial No. 257,839. I

of thepneumatic tire.; The r A is secured in operative re-v such members, aswill be understood. The I annuli L and L are formed at, opposite points. withprojections'l3 which fit into recessed projections 14 formed on the'auxiliary rim Aand upon opposite sides ofthe memberP. The contour of the'projections 13 and-the recessed projections 141 are such that one restricts the movement of the other,

and when the securing members'12 arein' position, the projections13 are, positively secured within the recesses, as clearly shown in Fig. 4.

To secure the attaching frame K to the wheel W, and at the same time permit it to move diametrically of the wheel W so that the pneumatic tire may cushioning function in the normalway, I provide a plurality of yokes upon the felly Fat points corresponding to the tread members P. Each yoke Y- is of substantial U-shaped formation, and as shown in Fig. 3,the side portions thereof extend radially upon oppositesides of the V felly'and the; Pneumatic tire I, Theinte perform its p a Y, mounted point directly I depressed portion is filled with rubber or below the spindle 15, and this of a cushioning material so as to form a resilient buffer for the spindle.

With a yoke mounted in the manner just described, it is capable of outward or inward radial movement with the least amount of friction. The opposite ends of each yoke Y are enlarged and flanged, as shown in Fig. 2, to provide sockets S of substantially ovate contour to receive heads H of corresponding shape which are formed at corresponding points upon the annuli L and L. The heads H are formed on the inner ends of extensions of the annuli L or L. and such extensions are provided with laterally extendmg ribs 21 for the purcircumferentially of 1 ings pose of reinforcement. When the heads H are mounted within the sockets S of the yoke Y, as shown in Figs. 2 and 3, because of the contour of these members, sliding movement these members, with respect to the wheel is prevented, but asan additional preventive and securing means, I provide pins 21 formed on the heads H which extend into openings 22 formed in the yoke Y, such pins and openings being of rectangular formation, as shown in Figs; 2 and 5. To prevent lateral movement of the heads within the sockets, 1 provide a securing member 23 which extends through openformed in the heads and yokes and which may be readily withdrawn to permit a removal of the attaching frame K.

In operation, the movable yokes Y permit the wheel W to move diametrically of the entire device so that the pneumatic tire T will be unrestricted to perform its cushioning functionr Under actual working conditions, the pneumatic tire is forced downwardly upon the'tread members-P, and in so doing is compressed in one direction and correspondingly expanded in the other. During this action of the pneumatic tire, the sockets B move radially,'while the yokes Y remain stationary so that the entire wheel moves independently of the auxiliary tire T and thus allows sorb the shocks in its usual efficient manner. Although the device is free to move diametrically of the wheel, circumferential movement of the same with relation to the wheel is positively prevented by virtue of theheadand socket connection between the v the slight compression the pneumatic tire to abyokes Y and the attaching frame K. The spindles 15 have sufficient circumferential play to permit the tread vibrations and the cushioning action of the tire resulting from of the tire at the center of the tread it intervals, by the convex or dome-shaped protuberances. Such an arrangement prevents wear be;- tween the contacting surface of the pneumatic tire and the tread members, while at the'same time it allows the properfunctioning of the pneumatic tire. The annular series of spaced convex or dome shaped protuberances K maintain the pneumatic tire in spaced relation with the body of the annular protective covering and when a wheel encounters an inequality of a road the dome shaped protuberances at the bottom portion of the wheel will indent slightly the tread of the pneumatic tire around a considerable portion of the same so that in stead of having a localized compression of the tire at the bottom of the wheel, the compression will. be distributed over a relatively large surface of the tread of the tire by means of a plurality of indentations produced by the dome shaped protuberances and as a result of this action only very little relative inward movement of the protective covering is required in the cushioning action of the pneumatic tire and only a small amount of play is necessary at the yokes to permit such action. It has been found in practice with a full sized automobile wheel that the amount of'inward movement of-the protuberances in indenting the pneumatic tire is approximately of an inch and the yokes will be of sufficient width to allow such play. V V .1

It will be noted that: movement of the attaching frame with relation to the auxiliary rim is also prevented by virtue of the securing means 12 and the interfitting projections 13 and-14, thus all of the parts of the. device are rigidly secured against circumferential creeping, while at the same timethey are free to move radially of the wheel so that they do not interfere with the action of the pneumatic tire.

It is to be noted that the lower ends of the yokes Y terminate at such points so asto. permit the demounting of the rim B after the attaching frame K has been removed. It is obvious that by removing the securing members 23, and pulling the attaching frame laterally in one direction or the other, the entire attaching frame, rim, and solid tire may be removed from the wheel, thus permitting ready removal of the pneumatic tire without necessitating the detaching of the yokes Y.

Although I scribed only one form of device embodyingmy invention, it is to be understood that various changes and modificationsmayibe;

have herein shown and :dev made herein without departing from the spirit of the invention, and the spirit and scope of the appended claims.

hat I claim is:

1. In combination, afelly, a pneumatic tire, an auxiliary tire surrounding the latter, an auxiliary rim for supporting the auxiliary tire, an attaching frame for the auxiliary rim comprising a pair ofannuli, yokes arranged at intervals about the felly and yokes and annuli at each end of thelyokes.

In combination, a telly, a pneumatic tire, an auxiliary tire surrounding the latter, an auxiliary rim for supporting the auxiliary tire and provided with protuberances the pneumatic tlre, said auxmounted for radial movement, and a head and socket connection between said annuli with the telly, said connecting means having'radially movable parts.

I 3; In combination, a felly,

, a pneumatic tire,

an auxiliary tire surrounding the latter, an auxiliary rim for supporting the aux-' iliary tire 7 provided with approximately flanges With the telly, said connecting means having radially movable parts.

In l combination, tire thereon, an auxiliary tire surrounding the latter, an auxiliary rim the auxiliary tire, an attaching frame for the auxiliary rim, yokes mounted on said Telly, spindles carried by said yokes, sock ets on said felly for'slidingly receiving said spindles, and a head and socket connection between said frame and yokes at each end of the latter. a

In testimony whereof name to this specification.

CHARLES FREDERICK FOX ALLAN.

intervals, annular fia11ges extendlng inwardly a telly, a pneumatic for supporting I have signed my 

